I have a lot of mixed feelings about the new law and the process that led to this result. There is little doubt that right-to-work laws interfere with the right of contract and they bar certain consensual economic arrangements. They prevent workers and employers from making mutually beneficial agreements. That's why I continue to oppose right-to-work laws in the private sector.
When it comes to the public sector, I believe that a good case can be made that such laws are appropriate. Why then did Governor Snyder and the Republican legislators exempt police and firefighter unions from this law?
On the other hand, I'm very disappointed by the over-the-top rhetoric and the acts of violence perpetrated by some labor union supporters in Lansing today. I found a great blog post by Dave Worthams on today's events in Lansing and how they relate to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Dave is a lobbyist for the Michigan Bankers Association and a former president of the Michigan Jaycees. Here are a couple of excerpts from Dave's blog post that I like...
...The 1st Amendment isn’t just something that allows you to say whatever you want without consequence or reaction from other people. The 1st Amendment, as is said in the movie The American President, is advanced citizenship. ”It’s gonna say ‘You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can’t just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the ‘land of the free’“In closing, let me leave you with a few quotes from John Paul II in the 1981 Laborem Exercens...
...A moment of perspective, I would estimate that there were around 11,000 people around the Capitol loop today. 99% of them were peacefully chanting and protesting. I had a number of conversations with some teachers in the Capitol and even pointed out a good place they could stand in order to fully understand what was going on in House session. From what I personally observed on the lawn, and in the videos I’ve posted so far, it appears that less than 100 caused the damage to the AFP tents. I hope folks on both sides remember when a vocal/violent minority causes damage (physically or with their words) it does not apply to the whole group, (ie union thugs on liberals/Democrats or tea party on Republicans).
...Just efforts to secure the rights of workers who are united by the same profession should always take into account the limitations imposed by the general economic situation of the country. Union demands cannot be turned into a kind of group or class "egoism", although they can and should also aim at correcting - with a view to the common good of the whole of society - everything defective in the system of ownership of the means of production or in the way these are managed. Social and socioeconomic life is certainly like a system of "connected vessels", and every social activity directed towards safeguarding the rights of particular groups should adapt itself to this system.
...In this sense, union activity undoubtedly enters the field of politics, understood as prudent concern for the common good. However, the role of unions is not to "play politics" in the sense that the expression is commonly understood today. Unions do not have the character of political parties struggling for power; they should not be subjected to the decision of political parties or have too close links with them. In fact, in such a situation they easily lose contact with their specific role, which is to secure the just rights of workers within the framework of the common good of the whole of society; instead they become an instrument used for other purposes.
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